How did Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston meet? Friendship explored as actor opens up on delivering funeral eulogy

Yellowstone star Kevin Costner opened up about his experience working with the late Whitney Houston. Costner met Houston when the duo worked together in the hit 1992 movie, The Bodyguard.

During the Monday, June 3 episode of the Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard podcast, Costner recalled how he promised Whitney Houston that she'd be good in the movie. A promise that he kept.

Costner also recalled the moment when he was asked to deliver Houston's eulogy when she tragically passed away in 2012. Costner initially did not want to do the speech but eventually ended up giving an emotional eulogy of 17 minutes.

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Kevin Costner spoke for 17 minutes at Whitney Houston's funeral

Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston met while working on the 1992 film The

Kevin Costner, who produced Bodyguard, pushed for Whitney Houston to play Rachel Marron, a singer and actress protected by his character, Frank Farmer, a stoic ex-Secret Service agent. Costner revealed at Houston's funeral that he fought for her role in the movie.

Houston initially declined, and Costner waited a year for her to accept. Although the film received mixed reviews, it was a huge box-office hit, breaking multiple records for Warner Brothers. Houston's soundtrack for the film achieved diamond certification in the United States.

On Monday's episode of Dax Shepard's Armchair Expert podcast, Kevin Costner opened up about working with Houston in the movie, which he thought he probably should have directed. Costner revealed that director Mick Jackson was uncomfortable working with Whitney.

Kevin Costner noted that there was a moment when Whitney Houston "trusted" him. When Costner understood that Mick Jackson was allegedly "afraid" of Houston, he started helping her. The actor said:

"I started to guide her, and I wasn’t trying to usurp my director, but I had made a promise to her — not to f**king him."

Kevin Costner reworked and re-edited the movie himself to achieve better test screening scores due to a promise that he had made Whitney Houston and her manager Clive Davis that Whitney would be good in the movie. Costner told Shepard:

"We had this movie that worked. And that was my promise to her. She's always gonna love me and the song, I was always gonna keep my promise to her."

Whitney Houston tragically passed away due to accidental drowning caused by heart disease and cocaine use at the age of 48 in February 2012. She was found dead in her bathtub at her Beverly Hills, California home.

The actor who had crafted his eulogy for Houston for weeks, recalled:

"There were some people that really wanted to speak, and they’re kind of staring daggers at me. What was I going to say? And I started, and about 17 minutes later I was done."

Kevin Costner's eulogy to his close friend Whitney Houston was filled with a plethora of extremely emotional moments. The actor recalled during his speech about the time when Houston used to cry on set as she did not think her voice was "good enough". Costner said during the funeral:

"Whitney, if you could hear me now, I would tell you, you weren't just good enough, you were great. You sang the whole damn song without a band. You made the picture what it was."

Costner conceded that anyone could've played his part and believed that she was the only one who could've brought Rachel Marron to life. He described Houston as not just pretty but "as beautiful as a woman could be". In the closing moments of his speech, he said:

"Off you go Whitney, off you go. Escorted by an army of angels to your heavenly father. When you sing before him, don't you worry. You'll be good enough."

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The Bodyguard starring Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston went on to gross a total of $411,046,449 worldwide according to IMDb. The movie's soundtrack also ended up winning the Grammy Award for Album of the Year.